Guide · 7 min read
What is a tender?
A tender is a formal offer to supply goods, works or services at a stated price and on stated terms, submitted in response to an invitation from a buyer. In UK public procurement the word does double duty: it describes the document you submit and the whole competitive process that produced it. The vocabulary around it is where most newcomers get stuck, so here is what each term actually means.
Tender, quotation and bid
A quotation is a lighter exercise used for lower-value requirements: the buyer asks a handful of suppliers for a price against a short specification, and the paperwork is proportionate. A tender is the formal version: a published notice, a full specification, defined award criteria, a fixed deadline and a structured submission through an e-tendering portal.
"Bid" is the everyday word for what you submit into either. It is not a legal term of art, and in practice a tender submission is treated as a binding offer capable of acceptance, which is why deadlines, pricing schedules and clarifications are handled so rigidly. Once submitted, you generally cannot revise your bid, and after the deadline you cannot submit at all.
SQ and ITT: selection then award
A selection questionnaire, or SQ, filters who is allowed to compete. It covers grounds for exclusion, financial standing, insurance, health and safety, technical capability and relevant experience. It answers the question "is this organisation fit to hold this contract?" and is largely pass/fail, sometimes with scored experience sections used to shortlist.
The invitation to tender, or ITT, is the award stage. Here you respond to the specification with method statements, quality answers, social value commitments and a priced schedule, and those responses are scored against published weightings. In a two-stage procurement only shortlisted bidders reach the ITT; in a single-stage open procedure everything is submitted together.
You may also meet a pre-qualification questionnaire (an older label for the same selection function) and, under the Procurement Act 2023 regime, the Central Digital Platform, where suppliers register core company information once for reuse across procurements.
Frameworks, dynamic markets and call-offs
A framework agreement is not a contract for work. It is an arrangement appointing a group of suppliers, on agreed terms, from which buyers can order over a set period, commonly four years. Getting appointed to a framework gives you the right to compete for or receive orders under it; it does not guarantee any volume.
Each order placed under a framework is a call-off. Depending on the framework's rules, call-offs are awarded by a mini-competition among appointed suppliers, or directly using ranked pricing or a defined allocation method. This matters commercially: two frameworks in the same sector can produce completely different amounts of actual work.
A dynamic purchasing system, and the dynamic market under the Procurement Act 2023, stays open for new applicants throughout its life rather than closing after a single appointment round. For suppliers who miss a framework window, dynamic markets are often the practical way in.
How a procurement runs from notice to contract
A typical above-threshold procurement follows a recognisable sequence. The buyer may publish a planned procurement notice or run pre-market engagement, then publishes a tender notice with the documents. A clarification window opens, during which questions are answered to all bidders. Bidders submit by the deadline through the portal.
Evaluation follows: compliance checks, then quality scoring by a panel against the published criteria, then price scoring, combined by the stated weightings. The buyer notifies the outcome, publishes an award notice, and observes a standstill period before signing the contract, during which unsuccessful bidders can seek feedback and, if they have grounds, challenge the decision.
After signature, contract details are published and performance is managed against KPIs. Larger contracts also attract published performance information and change notices, which is why you can often learn a great deal about a contract you did not win.
The vocabulary you will meet in the documents
Specification: what the buyer wants delivered. Award criteria and weightings: how your response will be scored. Lot: a subdivision of a larger requirement that can be bid for separately. Standstill: the pause between notifying the outcome and signing. Abnormally low tender: a price the buyer may question before award. Contract notice, award notice and contract details notice: the published records at each stage.
None of it is as complicated as the volume of paper suggests. Read the award criteria first, the specification second, and the terms and conditions before you price. If the process itself is still unclear, the guides on finding contracts and registering as a supplier cover the practical next steps.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between a tender and a framework?
- A tender is a competitive process for a specific contract. A framework appoints suppliers to a panel from which contracts, called call-offs, are ordered over several years. You can win a framework place and still receive no work if no call-offs come your way.
- Is a submitted tender legally binding?
- In practice yes: a tender is treated as an offer the buyer can accept, and pricing and commitments are expected to stand for the stated validity period. Withdrawing after submission can carry consequences, including exclusion from future processes.
- What does 'lot' mean in a tender?
- A lot is a divided portion of a bigger requirement, usually split by geography, service type or value. Lotting lets smaller suppliers bid for a manageable share, and buyers sometimes cap how many lots a single supplier can win.
This guide is general information about UK public procurement, not legal or financial advice. Thresholds, rules and portal requirements change: always check the official notice, the buyer's own tender documents and current government guidance before you rely on anything here.